Dark Light
by I.M.OSM
Summary: So there are seven other demigods found in the same school. Three of them are very powerful.
1. The New Seven

**Megan's POV**

This was really turning out to be the worst day ever.

It had started out pretty average. First was Art. There wasn't much to do in Art. Scraping the wooden board had given me bleeding knuckles. Next was MP. MP was our English Teacher, he was by far the worst teacher that I had ever met. At first, he had seemed pretty nice and harmless, but his true nature was revealed when our _It's a Wonderful Life _started. It's a Wonderful Life was a movie made by Frank Crapra (His actual name was Capra but we changed it into Crapra after realizing how boring and generally pointless the topic was). MP made us study it and write an essay afterwards. The worst part of the whole excruciating torture was the actual watching-of-the-movie itself. Every 3 seconds, MP would pause it and go into a very detailed explanation about why each character did what, why said what they said, etc. After the peak of the movie started, MP would stop the movie every 2 seconds in average. This got to the point of such extreme detail that MP started connecting the points into previous conversations and rewinding the movie until we started watching backwards instead of forwards. This was not the worst thing that happened today though.

As soon as lunch was over, Ms. Liu (Our Form Tutor) told us all to sit down in our form room seats. This was a strange request, but we filed in quietly anyway. "Okay, now. May I introduce to you the newest member of our class, Mr. Nico Di Angelo."

"No you may not!" Hugo whispered loudly. There were a few quiet snickers.

The new boy stepped into the room. He was tall and lean, with jet black hair that just touched his shoulders. His dark chocolate eyes roamed the classroom restlessly. His eyes met mine and slid away. Suddenly he seemed to see someone from across the room, and froze. Something seemed to burn in his eyes but he quickly blinked and it was gone. I looked to who he was staring at. It was Anson. A ghost of a smile slowly slid across his face before being replaced by his usual annoying smirk. His face flickered, and it was momentarily replaced by someone else's. The man was older than Anson, with a mane of hair and different coloured eyes. Then, Anson's usual face was back. I must be losing it. I turned back.

Ms. Liu was addressing the class again, "Now, do you want to introduce yourself, Mr. Di Angelo."

Nico Di Angelo tapped nervously in a strange rhythm. I think it was morse code. "Whoa," He said quietly, "Being with Leo's really rubbing on me." I had no idea what that meant.

He fiddled nervously with his tie. "Hi, guys. I'm Nico Di Angelo. I am Italian. I have one sister, she's in year nine right now." Nico cleared his throat, obviously unsure of what to do.

"Okay. Welcome to Dulwich, man." Chad nodded. Nico was now officially accepted into the guy circles. Chad was the most popular guy in the whole class, if he accepted someone, that someone would be generally accepted with everyone. One of the people who wasn't accepted by Chad was Anson, and Moses, a kind-of nice guy who didn't really understand English. Chad just didn't like his vibe.

Nico fidgeted with the hem of his shirt. He strode purposefully towards the aisle. Wait. No, no, no, no! The only empty seat was next to me!

Sophia and Shelly both looked at me with pity. They knew that I didn't want to sit next to some new guy I didn't even know. This is so sad.

Nico slid into the seat next to me. I knew he was fidgeting with the sleeves again. I risked a glance. He was staring intently at Anson. Some secret communication happened between them. They seemed to be interchanging threats. Anson was still smirking amusedly, and Nico was almost growling. It was a low sound, quiet but threatening. He noticed me staring at him and immediately stopped. "Hi, I'm Nico."

"Hi?" I tried to sound sophisticated but the word came out more like a question.

Next lesson, PE.

Right now, the topic we are doing is T-ball. I actually quite like T-ball. It is one of the only PE Subject that I don't completely embarrass myself in.

Ms. C lined us up into separate teams. I was in a group with Chad, Nicole, Sophia, Nicholas, Sewon, Shelly, Olivia, Ashley and Nico. Strangely, Ashley and Shelly seemed to be bickering loudly over something that no-one cared about. Nico was staring at them intently. A twinge of jealousy shot through me but I pushed it away. It was irrational.

First batter was Sophia. She lined her feet up with the boundary lines and smiled confidently. Swinging the bat with all her might, Sophia hit the ball with a loud crack, sending it soaring over the fielder's heads. As soon as she hit the ball, she dropped the bat and ran towards the first base. Everyone on our team cheered. Next was Lee, and then Jasmine, Ashley, Shelly, Sewon, Nico, me, then Nicholas and Chad. Nico, surprising, was actually pretty good at this. He cracked the bat and it flew all the way into the outfield. He ran the full house. I noticed Sewon, Chad and Nicholas all studying Nico. After he crossed the home line, they nodded as if accepting him into their group.

Lee beside me muttered, "the new boys good at this. He's kinda cute." I felt a twinge of something gnawing at the pit of my stomach. First I couldn't pinpoint what exactly it was, then I realised. It was jealousy.

After school that day, I walked home, carrying my clarinet in one hand. Just as I was about to walk out of the classroom, I heard a commotion in an empty classroom next door, I went to investigate.

Nico was there, along with Anson, and they seemed to be arguing. Nico had his hand fisted in the starch material of Anson's uniform, and was snarling at him through gritted teeth. I couldn't hear what they were saying but it looked intense. I crept closer. Muffled and barely audible, I managed to catch a few words of their conversation.

"…doing here. …Manticore…Mr. D…dead!"

"The General…seven demigods…three of the Big Three…won't save them all. One of Hades,…one of Zeus…one of Poseidon. No protector."

"…gonna kill…. Annabeth…kidnapped…hurt…Luke…dead!"

Nico slammed Anson against the wall. He was radiating a dark aura, powerful and dangerous. In that second, Anson seemed to change. First, his hair lightened and turned a shade of blonde, and then his back humped and something began sprouting out from behind him. With one hand tipped with silver, he slashed across Nico's face, snapping his head backwards. Nico stumbled backwards, taking something from the waistband of his trousers. It was a sword, a real life sword. It was glowing a dark glow, sucking the warmth and light from the room. The thing that had been Anson growled and backed away. It moved towards Nico, snarling aggressively. "I should have killed you back in Westover Hall."

Nico didn't even bother answering. He swung his sword in deadly arc. The thing dodged and quick as a flash, darted its tail under Nico's guard and plunged its stinger into Nico's chest. I gasped. Nico's face turned green and he sunk down on one knee, crumpling to the floor. I screamed; the thing turned around. "Hello Megan, spawn of Apollo."

I scrambled away and down the corridor. There was chattering coming from an opposite hallway and I backed away towards it. Three people rounded a corner and crashed into me. It was Sophia, Ashley and Shelly. Sophia took in my pale face and shocked expression and asked, "what is it, Megan?" I gasped, "Nico was in that classroom. Then Anson did something, changed, and hurt Nico." Ashley snorted, "yeah right. Anson, the wimp, hurt Nico Di Angelo. Last time I checked, he was about twice Anson's height. I'm gonna go see."

She stormed towards the classroom with Shelly and Sophia trailing behind her. I gulped and followed them. In the classroom, Nico was still lying on the floor, motionless. Anson-thing was no-where to be seen.

Ashley snorted, "see, theres nothing." I crept towards Nico. Suddenly, a shadow dropped in front of me and I shrieked. Anson was standing in front of me again, strange tail and monstrous features gone. "Megan, what are you doing here?" I stumbled away, covering my face, "stay away from me." Anson growled. He changed. Sophia and Shelly swore under their breath. Anson's tail whipped forward and I only managed to dodge it.

Sophia was whispering in Shelly. She nodded. Sophia then raised her head and her eyes flashed with defiance. "Hey Anson, look at me you big ugly stupid thing." As she ranted at Anson, who fixated on her in confusion, I saw in the corner of my eye Shelly creeping along the floor towards Nico. Instead of helping him up as I thought she would, Shelly lifted up Nico's long black sword and the black aura seemed to flow around her, enveloping Shelly.

Anson was still staring at Sophia as if she had grown a second head. Shelly crept around Anson and just as Anson was about to get bored of Sophia's speech, Shelly plunged the sword into Anson's back. But no! Anson had moved. He snarled and tossed Shelly aside, the sword falling out of a gaping wound in his side. Shelly landed at the side of the room, she wasn't moving. I screamed. Ashley was running towards Shelly, but the thing was in her way. It snarled, a putrid smell wafted towards me. Ashley screamed and covered her face with her hands. Suddenly, the direction of the wind changed. Nico's sword that had previously been abandoned on the floor flew up into the air, plunging into Anson's back. I covered my mouth in shock. Anson crumbled to the floor, literally. He dissolved into yellow powder that sifted to the ground.

I gasped. Nico on the floor next to me coughed and I knelt down next to him. "Coat pocket." he gasped. I reached into his left coat pocket and brought out a small Tupperware lunchbox. Inside were small cubes of a brown food that looked suspiciously like homemade Turkish Delight. Nico took some out and stuffed them in his mouth. Almost immediately, he looked better. He could stil barely walk, so he leaned on my shoulder and I lead him towards Shelly, who was still lying motionless on the floor. Nico forcefully opened Shelly's mouth and stuffed some Turkish Delight inside. After a while, Shelly began to come to. She smacked her lips and said "Seriously, I faint and you guys force feed me caramel coffee candy." "No," Nico replied doubtfully, "we didn't. Its' ambrosia. Look, since that thing attacked us, we can't stay here. Our ride should be here soon."


	2. The Claiming

I heard the unmistakable sound of wing beats. They were too loud to be a pigeon's. A shadow blotted out the Sun and I heard the unmistakable sound of horses whinnying. I quickly opened the blinds and just outside the window were four flying horses. Flying as in with wings. No way, no way. I am definitely hallucinating. I rubbed my eyes. On one of the flying horses was a guy a little older than me with dark hair and sea green eyes. "Hurry up Nico, we haven't got all day. I brought Guido, Porkpie and Reyna let me burrow Scipio." Nico nodded. "Okay, but that's not enough. Two of them would have to go with me." The boy on the jet black horse frowned, "there are only four here, where are the other three. Chiron said that they are called Helen, Nicole and Olivia." "I'll pick them up," Percy shrugged, "at the meantime, who's going with you?" Nico looked around uncertainly. Shelly raised her hand, "I dunno what you guys are talking about, but I'll go with Nico." She looked at me from across the room, imploring me with her eyes, "Megan, can you come as well?" I sighed, nodding my head despondently.

Nico held his hand out for me and Shelly. I grabbed his long fingered hand and held on tight. I don't know what we were about to do. Nico lead us towards a shadow in the corner, charging towards it. Just as we were about to crash into the wall, we passed through something cold and dark. Wind blew in my face, there was a howling sound in my ears. Then, there was nothing.

I blinked. I was lying on the floor in a sun-lit pavilion. There were crowds of people, mostly teenagers, milling around the tables. They all stopped to stare at us as we landed on the ground. Nico pulled me up and frowned, "I could have sworn that shadow traveling had become easier. It only happened last time when another Hades demigod was with me." "Say what?"

A girl about 17 years old stood up from the table. She was blonde, with stormy gray eyes and a stern expression. The girl stormed up to Nico and asked, "where's Percy? Are these two of the seven demigods that Chiron was talking about?" Nico shrugged. "They're coming by pegasus, so they might take longer." Simultaneously, all the people turned towards the horizon. I turned too. At first I couldn't see anything, then, four black specks appeared in the sky. They came closer and I realized that they were the flying horses, now burdened with Sophia, Ashley, Nicole, Helen and Olivia. Nicole was a petite girl with beautiful black shiny eyes and a delicate nose. Olivia had gray-blue eyes that shone with knowledge and wisdom, and long curling fronds of hair. Helen had an elegant french bob that fitted her pale face and sharp profile. The flying horses with Olivia, Helen and Nicole on them tumbled to the ground, their riders stumbling off them dizzily. Nicole moaned as she took in her ruined dress. "I can't believe you kidnapped us, Sophia." Sophia, along with Ashley and the boy named Percy, had managed to land gracefully and were now stepping of their respectable steeds.

As soon as Olivia had landed on the ground, she stood up, dusting off her skirt and shirt. Suddenly, there was a burst of light that surrounded her. She yelped in shock and ducked away, but the light followed her. Now that the initial glow had faded, I could see clearly an owl, perched on an olive branch, shining like an ancient hieroglyph above Olivia's head. The girl with the gray eyes gasped. "Athena," she muttered. Olivia was swiping at the glowing owl, but the symbol had already began to fade. The girl stepped forward cautiously, "I'm Annabeth, and you are?" Nico stood to attention and said in a calm voice: "This is Shelly, Sophia, Nicole, Olivia, Ashley, Megan and Helen." He pointed to each of us in turn. His eyes lingered on mine. I blushed.

"Right. Now you've heard of the Greek Gods haven't you. Well, they're alive and thriving. Now they are here in America." Annabeth sounded bored, as if she had said these words too many times already. "Wait," Helen spluttered, "America, as in the USA! We were in ENGLAND just a few minutes ago." Percy patted his jet-black flying horse's neck, "Pegasii are the fastest way of transport, unless you are a Child of Hades." I couldn't believe what he was saying. We just flew across an entire continent in a matter of minutes.

The crowd parted for a moment. I gasped. Walking through the crowd was the strangest creature I had ever seen. He was tall, taller than an average person, but where his lower body should've been, a horse's flank melded perfectly. Annabeth smiled. "Finally, Chiron."

Chiron, the whatever he was, held out his hand for me to take. "Hello, Megan." he said in a kindly voice. "Have you been claimed yet?" Taking in my puzzled look, he gestured at the twelve cabins surrounding the central hearth. "Which Olympian deity is your parent. Your friend Olivia there has already been chosen. Athena, Greek Goddess of wisdom and creativity." Olivia smiled uncertainly. Annabeth, on the other hand, grinned, "your my sister now. Welcome to the Athena Cabin." A boy around Annabeth's age clapped Olivia on the back and lead her off towards the direction of one of the cabins in the central circle of cabin. "Let me give you a tour." Olivia walked off with the boy.

The crowd of onlookers began to disperse. Only Annabeth, Percy, Nico, Chiron, and a serious looking blonde boy called Jason stayed. "So, what do we do now?" Jason asked, "I mean why are so many powerful demigods appearing all at the same time?" Chiron looked straight at Ashley contemplatively, making her look away nervously. "I believe it has something to do with the New Prophecy of Seven." I looked around. Everyone looked just as confused as I felt, even Nico and Jason. However Percy and Annabeth both looked alarmed. "So soon? Three in a row? When I finally thought that we could settle down and spend the rest of our lives in peace." Jason frowned at Ashley, "I don't know, but something about you seems familiar. You have the same aura as me and Thalia."

Just at that moment, the sky burst open and sleets of rain poured down and thunder boomed in the distance. Annabeth, Jason, Nico and Percy stared up at the sky in blind shock. "What's happening? Chiron? I thought only one person, or god, could do that to the Camp." Lightning crackled in the swirling vortex that was opening up above me. "No, no it can't be." Jason muttered. He shouted something incomprehensible to Ashley. The sound from the quickly gathering hurricane was too loud. Lightning crackled again, closer, this time. Jason dived forward, throwing his hands out. An invisible force seemed to push me away from where I was standing. Everyone else was stumbling and falling. Jason waved his hands again and the invisible force pushed us further away.

Ashley was standing alone now, right underneath the eye of the hurricane. She stared up at the storm cloud in horrified fascination. Lightning crackled. I understood what was happening a moment before it happened. I realized why Jason was pushing us away from Ashley.

A shaft of lightning so close and so bright tore from the storm cloud, directly hitting Ashley, setting her body in sharp relief. Her whole body arched backwards painfully and she screamed. Ashley was tossed seven feet from where she had been standing. I covered my eyes. Everything was silent.

I opened my eyes again. Everyone else was stirring. Chiron stood up, brushing off his palomino body. He stepped forward gravely to where Ashley was lying and helped her up. Ashley blinked and rubbed her eyes. She hadn't been hurt at all, her clothes were only slightly charred. Chiron bowed his head in respect. "All hail Ashley Tyler, the daughter on Zeus, King of the gods."


	3. The Second Great Prophecy

Chapter 3

Everyone in the surrounding pavilion bowed their head and I felt embarrassed. Jason came forward cautiously and grinned. "Your my sister now." I grinned in spite of myself. Annabeth and Percy held hands as they stood forward too congratulate me. "Well done." Annabeth murmured. "Your claiming was much more intense than mine was." Percy sounded the tiniest bit jealous.

Jason indicated for me to follow him. "Come on, I'll show you around." He lead me away from the throngs of people. I could them staring at me as I passed by. A large white house stood proudly in front of me. I walked next to it and trailed my fingers along the old wood. Jason was watching me. "This is the Big House, where all the important decisions are made." Around the back porch of the Big was a table. On it, there were multiple decks of cards.

"Who plays cards here?" I questioned.

"Our camp director, Mr. D. As a god, he is known as Dionysus, God of wine, in short, the wine dude." Jason smirked.

I laughed. "So, about this daughter of Zeus thing. Do I have to know anything or do anything."

"Naw, you don't really have to do anything. But everyone is going to look up to you and sometimes the pressure is gonna be high." Jason pointed at a cabin that was decorated like a doll house. The hot pink curtains fluttered in the breeze, and the sweet smell of perfume reached my nose. "This is the Aphrodite cabin, my girlfriend Piper is the head of the Aphrodite cabin." He lead me inside. The interior of the dollhouse was just as pink and painted as the outside. A girl was lounging on one of the beds. Jason's smile became forced, "Drew Tanaka." The girl stood up, stretching her long tanned legs out and smiled insinuatingly. This was a type of girl that I had hated the most back in school, sporting fake tans and enough make-up on their eyes to weigh down their eyelids. I looked at the way Drew flaunted her body towards Jason and the way he leaned stiffly away, averting her eyes, that these two had had a history together.

Jason cleared his throat, "Do you know where Piper is."

Right away, Drew's demeanor changed. She visible shuddered and said in a disgusted voice, "I really don't know what you see in her. She's in target practice." Jason nodded, backing away slowly. He stormed out the door and I trailed after him.

"Who was she?"

Jason sighed, "Drew Tanaka, ex-head of the Aphrodite cabin. Piper took her place after she had completed her first quest. Drew and Piper hate each other. Well, when we were new here, Drew tried to, um, make a move on me."

"Oh." There was an awkward pause.

Jason paused next to a group of archers. I was surprised to see Megan along with them. She was chatting with a beautiful girl with different coloured eyes. Jason smiled, "This is my girlfriend Piper." Piper graced me with a smile, and even though we were the same gender and I wasn't attracted to her, I blushed. Megan patted my shoulder, "Look Ashley." She strung the line on her bow and took careful aim at the bullseye. Megan stared off at the red dot and concentrated hard. Whoosh! The arrow sped off into the distance and imbedded itself about an inch away from the red center. Jason whistled.

"You have a good shot." Piper smiled appreciatively. Megan bowed her head modestly.

Jason lead me away from the archers.

Next, he stopped next to a modern looking structure with a chimney bellowing smoke. Above the doorframe was embossed the number 9. "This is the Hephaestus cabin. My friend Leo's the head of this cabin. We stepped inside. There was only one person in the cabin, a lean wiry boy with a warm smile and cheeky dimples.

"Hey Jason." Leo smiled, "Who's the chick."

Jason frowned, "don't be rude. This is Ashley Tyler, Ashley, this is Leo Valdez."

"Has she been claimed yet?" Seeing Jason's affirmative nod, Leo asked, "Which cabin."

"Cabin one." Leo looked impressed. "You know Chiron's calling a meeting later this afternoon to talk about why there are another seven demigods, especially ones so powerful." Leo rolled his eyes at a prospect of yet another meeting.

Jason sighed, "Yeah, well, see you later."

He walked out the door.

Jason looked at his watch, "It's almost time for the meeting. Chiron told you guys to come as well." I shrugged, "Sure."

I followed him back towards the Big House. An ominous cloud seemed to suck the breath away when I stepped in. Someone tapped my shoulders. Shelly stood behind me, clothed in all black. Nico had been the one giving her a tour, but he was nowhere to be seen. Her liquid black hair seemed to blend in with the shadows. One minute she was there, one minute she wasn't. Nico stumbled out from behind her. He, too, was lurking in the shadows. What a creepy pair. "Hey." Shelly said.

I turned away not wanting to stay in a room alone with the two shadowy figures behind me. Shelly grabbed my shoulders, "where you going. Why are you ditching me." I almost laughed with relief. What was I thinking, Shelly, some evil powerful twisted creature, please. Nico didn't say anything. He was creepy, no doubt about that.

I hurried along with Shelly into the light of the room beyond. The room was a cozy place, with a pingpong table in the center, and a pac-man machine in the side. Leo and Percy was already crashed on the couch, drinking coke and crunching on snacks. Nicole was in the corner, gossiping about boys with Piper. Olivia and Annabeth were talking in hushed whispered, gesturing heatedly with their hands. Helen and Sophia were standing awkwardly next to the pingpong table, talking to a girl with light brown skin and an Asian boy with dark brown eyes. I decided to join Leo and Percy. Shelly followed me. Nico was standing in a pool of shadows, blinking uncomfortably around the room.

Percy was loudly trying to say 'fluffy bunnies' with 10 marshmallows in his mouth. He managed something that vaguely sounded like 'flloofly bhhnnies' before all the marshmallows sprayed out from his mouth. Leo snorted with laughter, spraying his drink from his mouth. Shelly quickly slipped away from the spray. "So, what are we doing here." I was anxious to talk to them. Leo shrugged while Percy hurried to pick all the marshmallows from the floor. He smiled up at me, "So, how was your first day?"

"Great." I sighed, leaning against the wall.

Across the room, Megan was now approaching cautiously towards Nico. She attempted engaging him in a conversation, but he just stared at her like she was crazy. Megan cleared her throat uncomfortable and stuttered. I decided to go to them and rescue Megan.

Megan was stuttering, "Where, um, where is your sister, Bianca."

Nico growled. Somehow, I think that the topic was touchy for him, "She's a hunter of Artemis now. I almost never see her anymore. Megan coughed nervously.

"Why are you hanging out with Shelly." Megan was now asking, almost possessively.

Nico looked genuinely puzzled with this question. "I dunno, why?"

Megan shrugged, "no reason."

Chiron stepped into the room, sparing me from having to save Megan (or Nico) from the awkward situation. "We are all here to discuss the sudden appearance of seven new and powerful demigods, and how it all links to the New great Prophecy."

Everyone was paying attention now. Chiron looked directly at me, "Miss Tyler has been claimed today by Zeus. I do not know what this entails. Miss Dare, would you so kindly state the prophecy."

A redhead stood out from the shadows, I hadn't realized she was there yet. She cleared her throat and recited:

"To the dark one's realm the nine shall roam,

Seek the golden sun, and return,

But one shall fall, by the flowers she rests,

As spring disappears from her ephemeral joy.

And for the Seven of the Nine,

They shall have the power of the stars in their hands."

I had no idea what the prophecy meant, but Annabeth's eyes lit up. "Obviously, there is going to be another quest, and there will be seven out of the nine with special powers."

Chiron nodded his head solemnly, "Now we should choose the nine that are going."

Nico stood forward, "I volunteer to lead this quest. The prophecy says that we would have to journey to the dark one's realm. This is obviously the Underworld."

Chiron inputted, "And we all agree that the new demigods should come. And the question is, who is the last person on this quest?"

"OK, I'll go," Leo shrugged, "I figure you'll need someone hot in this quest." Sophia giggled and Leo grinned at her.

"Fine, you should get ready. You'll leave first thing next morning." Chiron looked older by so many years.


	4. Weapon of Choice

Chapter 4

**Megan's POV**

I followed Shelly and Sophia to the Hades Cabin. The girl with the light brown skin who's name, I had learnt, was Hazel, said that we could sleep in her cabin tonight, since there wasn't much people in the Hades cabin. The Hades cabin was in the far corner of the center band of cabins, black, with a ram's skull above the doorframe.

The inside was warm with a decorative fireplace and a few small bunks lining the far wall. The center was occupied with a giant alter of the death god, Hades. There were burnt pieces of paper littering the surface of the alter, with a few smudged words on them. "They're prayers." Shelly clarified.

I frowned, "how do you know this?"

Shelly shrugged, and I was left with my doubts. Sophia lead the way to one of the bunks and plopped down. "I dibs this one." Shelly sat down cautiously on the next one over. I was about to sit down on one until a voice next to my ear whispered, "that one's mine." Nico was standing in front of me, I hadn't even heard him approach yet. He had circles under his eyes and looked weary. I quickly grabbed by things and tossed it onto an unoccupied bunk and walked quickly over, avoiding his gaze. My face warmed as I practically felt him staring at my back. I sneaked a peak behind and he was indeed staring at me. I looked away.

I could only hear the quiet noise of my friends breathing. I couldn't sleep. At first it was as if small things kept me awake, but after a while, I felt a faint buzzing in the air. I slipped into my clothes and walked out of the cabin.

The moonlight spilled onto the central hearth, still a pile of burning embers. Out in the edge of the clearing, I could see the shadow of a boy. He was kneeling on the floor, gesturing heatedly with his hands. I couldn't see who he was talking to. Mist gathered around his figure and the form of a woman. I stepped closer.

They seemed to be arguing. Nico's voice rose louder and louder until I could hear what he was saying. "No, I don't want to. I can bring you back." The woman whispered, "No you can't Nico, there is something going on in the Underworld, I might not be able to speak with you for a while." With that, she began to fade away into the shadows. Nico frantically swiped at the place where she once was, "Mother!"

I froze. This was Nico's mother. Nico's mother was dead! A rush of pity surged through me. I walked next to him and laid my hand onto his shoulder. "Nico."

He jerked around, "Megan, how long have you been here? How much have you heard?"

"That was you mother?" I gently patted his back in a reassuring way.

He looked to the ground and didn't answer. I tried to understand what I had just heard. So Nico had a mother that was in the Underworld, she was dead. I had also heard rumors that Nico had had a crush on Annabeth, which meant that he had obviously been rejected. Wow, that must be why he kept on pushing me away when I tried to reach out to him. It must have been hard on that guy.

"There must be something wrong with the spirits in the Underworld. Or something." Nico tried to change the subject, "I should really tell Chiron this in the morning. It might make things harder for us to travel in the Underworld. We should go back to the cabin now." Unexpectedly, he took hold of my hand and lead me towards the cabin. There was a rush of warmth where our fingers met and I blushed. I resisted the urge to pull my hand away and focused on walking.

The moon ghosted along the horizon and drifted there. The Sun was beginning to peak over the line of the lake, colouring it red. Nico glanced at the horizon and sighed, "there's not much point in going back to sleep." When we arrived back at the cabin, Sophia and Shelly was already there awake, talking to someone in the entryway. Shelly moved aside and I saw it was Leo. He and Sophia seemed to have struck up a friendly rivalry and were hitting it off with each other with verbal jabs while Shelly listened in interestedly.

"Great, now that we're all here, now let's talk about something else other than Sophia's lack of sense and intelligence." Leo smiled elfishly.

"Your the one lacking the sense and intelligence. By the way Nico, do you know where Helen and the others are sleeping?" Sophia questioned.

Nico shook his head and Leo supplied, "I think that they are sleeping in the Aphrodite cabin with Piper, and Olivia is staying in the Athena cabin."

As we walked towards the hillside, Sophia and Leo started bickering again. Leo burst his hand on fire and Sophia jumped away, yelping in surprise. "I don't really like fire, I'm really scared of it."

Leo immediately extinguished his fire and became more solemn, "Sorry. Won't do that again." Sophia smiled and poked him. Soon, they were back to bickering and fighting again.

Shelly smiled and poked me, "Aren't they getting along fine." She wriggled her eyebrows and smiled conspiratorially. I smiled back.

We crested the hill and Ashley, Helen, Olivia and Nicole were already waiting. Ashley fell into step in front of me and walked with Shelly in a companionable silence. "So, how was being the daughter of Zeus?"

Ashley shrugged, signaling she didn't want to talk about it. She looked back at Jason and Piper, "Well, it was normal."

Shelly dropped into another silence and up ahead, a car appeared, with its driver standing in front of it. The driver was a blonde man, and when he turned around, I gasped in surprise. His whole body was covered in eyes!

I quickly averted my own as not to be rude and focused on Chiron standing next to the driver guy. He looked grim and in his hand, he was holding all sorts of weapons. Maces, battle-axes, swords, whips, bows, knives, hooks and long sticks were all laid out neatly on the floor.

Chiron faced us and said, "I realize that none of you have a weapon. Now, you may choose one that most suits you."

I walked up and immediately picked up the wooden bow. Chiron nodded his approval. Sophia walked out and picked up a set of wicked looking knives. Chiron looked on as one by one, we filed to get a weapon. Helen was next. She picked up a strange set of curved sharp objects and weighed them in her hand. Nicole moved forward and took a set of dainty looking darts. Olivia didn't even hesitate. She looked at the knives and picked one up. Shelly was next. She picked up a long thin wooden staff. She waved it around experimentally and nodded her approval.

Ashley was last. She picked around the pile and took up a snake shaped silver and gold twisted bracelet. As soon as Ashley picked it up, it turned to life, the snake twisting around her wrists. Ashley yelped. The metal snaked coiled around her wrists. Chiron sighed, "I knew one of you would pick that weapon. It has an Ancient history, and a curse. Use it well."

Just as the snake was about to solidify, Ashley flicked her wrist and instantly, the snake lengthened and became a long slender white silver whip. Leo muttered, "Awesome."

Chiron cleared his throat, "Argus can take you for as far as the Entrance to the Underworld in Manhattan, then, you're alone."


End file.
